Shannon Workers,Take a Principled Stand: Stop Servicing Warplanes

Mon, 31/12/2018 - 17:57 by shannonwatch

The US warplanes have not gone away, they're just being more devious in their landings at Shannon, not displaying their flight numbers or call signs. This Omni Air International plane landed at Shannon just after 1pm on the afternoon of Dec 29th. It arrived from Norfolk US Naval Base in the USA and was most likely on its way to the Middle East with yet anther plane load of armed US troops.

The photos below show Shannon airport workers servicing this aircraft and refueling it.

In 1984, Dunnes Stores workers began a strike that would last almost three years. Shop steward Karen Gearon gave a union instruction to her colleagues not to handle any South African goods, in protest against the apartheid regime in South Africa at the time.

Where now are the equivalent of these courageous and principled Dunes Stores workers and union leaders at Shannon airport since 2001?

Workers at Shannon Airport, as well as the Shannon Airport Authority and the Irish Government and Gardaí are all complicit in any war crimes committed by US forces and CIA whose aircraft are being serviced and refueled at Shannon. US bombs and US military and special forces are still killing innocent people in Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen.

Its beyond time for the workers at Shannon Airport to refuse to refuel and service US military aircraft, and its never too late to take the appropriate and principled actions to achieve this. "Ah sure we were only cleaning the toilets"! Yes and the Dunes Stores workers were only refusing to sell South African oranges but they did what was right!